Auditions begin for world's largest Titanic visitor attraction in Belfast

An “X Factor”-style recruitment drive is being initiated for the prospective employees of the Titanic Signature Building in Belfast.

The Titanic Building could cost $138 million (£90m) and will be the most expensive tourist project ever built in Northern Ireland. Located in the shipyard where the White Star Line’s ship Titanic was built, it will open in time for the centenary of the ship’s sinking in April 2012.

This new building is also creating 70 new jobs and the prospective employees will have to audition next Saturday. According to BBC reports, each candidate will receive a script in relation to one of the nine galleries in the building. They will then be required to give an interpretive presentation.

This audition process will aim to show their passion and communications skills.

Judith Owens, director of operations, said, “We decided that the best way to find out what people's skills were was to actually get them to communicate with us…We are going to give them a few scenarios and topics and they will have to interpret those topics in their own way to a panel on the day and they will have three minutes to do that."

Belfast Lord Mayor Niall O Donnghaile said the level of interest had been "staggering".

Tim Husbands, chief executive of Titanic Belfast, told the Belfast Telegraph that almost 1,500 people attended a drop-in day at Belfast City Hall last year with more than 850 expressing a definite interest in the jobs.

Husbands said, “We're conscious that everyone working at Titanic Belfast will be an ambassador, not just for ourselves, but for Belfast and Northern Ireland as a whole…This is a unique project with unique potential to promote Belfast to the world, so we need people with that special Titanic 'T factor'. The audition day will give prospective employees a chance to let their true personalities shine through.

It is planned that the building will open in March. It’s expected to have large numbers of tourists visiting for the Titanic’s centenary and it’s hoped that his will give a boost to Northern Ireland’s tourism industry.

Alan Clarke, chief executive of the Northern Ireland Tourist Board, said, "Following the phenomenal success of the MTV awards late last year, the tourism industry is keenly awaiting the next big event, the opening of Titanic Belfast in the spring. This new attraction is set to give another massive boost to tourism and to Northern Ireland's reputation around the world."